


A Binary World

by EstaJay



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, I have no plans for this, Yuusaku is an ai, and is sort of dead? maybe?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-11-12 10:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstaJay/pseuds/EstaJay
Summary: Playmaker knows three things:1. It is an Artificial Intelligence created by Kusanagi Shoichi2. It was created to combat the Knights of Hanoi3. It is too sentient to be a normal A.I.Ignis knows two things:1. It can't afford to be caught by the Knights of Hanoi2. There is no way that Playmaker is an actual A.I.Shoichi knows one thing: he has to keep Yuusaku alive, even as a collection of ones and zeros.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With only five episodes out, it's too early to make anything really solid but this little plot bunny...  
> Will this turn into a muti-chapter fic with a proper plot or just another collection of oneshots? I have no clue.  
> I'm experimenting with a new format with this. The next chapter (if there is one) will hopefully be a bit more orthadox.

* * *

 

_"Please, there has to be a way! Something, anything!"_

_"I...I can't lose him. I can't lose him too...so please..."_

_"Keep him alive."_

* * *

Floating away, drifting away,

In a world of ones and zeroes. 

_Where am I?_

_Who am I?_

_Why am I here?_

_..._

_What am I?_

_It's so -_

Only ones and zeroes everywhere,

Endless streams into the ether,

But there no one else.

Alone.

_I'm scared._

The ones and zeroes part,

Shifting, realigning, transcribing,

[Hello?]

Someone else is here.

Relief.

_I'm not alone._

[HELLO?! WHOSE THERE? 

WHO ARE YOU?

WHO AM I?]

[I'm Kusanagi. Kusanagi Shoichi.

You are...]

A pause.

A thought.

(How do I explain the truth?)

[遊作]

This...this is kanji.

_What does it mean?_

-LINK START-

KANJI RECOGNIZED

遊 (Yuu) - GAME; PLAY

作 (Saku) - WORK

遊作 - CROUCHING; TO MAKE A PLAY

-LINK END-

_I know this._

_This is my name?_

_This is my name._

[I MAKE A PLAY,

I AM PLAYMAKER.

...

IS THIS CORRECT?  
>YES

>NO]

_That sounds right._

_But not quite._

_But good enough?_

Another pause.

A delayed response.

(This isn't right but...

How do I tell him?

How do I explain it?

How do I explain all _this?_ )

This will have to do.

** >YES **

* * *

I am Kusanagi Shoichi.

_You are Kusanagi._

You are 遊作 (Yuusaku).

_I am Playmaker._

You are an AI Program I created in order to combat the Knights of Hanoi.

_This is my objective._

Don't expect yourself to be similar to other AI.

_I am an anomaly._

You are not and never will be.

_I will never fit in._

But you are not just a tool, you are my partner.

_This is not protocol._

We are equals.

_How is that possible?_

Is that understood? 

_No._

* * *

SOL TECHNOLOGIES SCAN: 68% 

PATHWAY CREATION: 50% 

-PATH 4032-

[ENTRY REQUESTED]

**ACCESS DENIED**

_Shit._

SOL TECHNOLOGIES SCAN: 70% 

PATHWAY CREATION: 75% 

-PATH 7435-

[ENTRY REQUESTED]

**ACCESS DENIED**

_Double shit._

SOL TECHNOLOGIES SCAN: 80% 

PATHWAY CREATION: 93% 

-PATH 1813-

[ENTRY REQUESTED]

**ACCESS DENIED**

_Oh come on!_

SOL TECHNOLOGIES SCAN: 95% 

PATHWAY CREATION: 100% 

-PATH 5107-

[ENTRY REQUESTED]

**ACCESS GRANTED**

_Finally! I'm safe!_

-TRANSFERRING UNIDENTIFIED A.I. TO PATH 5017-

WARNING!

THE FILE YOU ARE ABOUT TO DOWNLOAD COULD POSSIBLY CONTAIN MALICIOUS SOFTWARE.

SECURITY SCAN INITIATED

ALL UNIDENTIFIED SOFTWARE WILL BE BLOCKED AND QUARANTINED

_No way am I going to get l blocked!_

ADMIN OVERRIDE - PLAYMAKER

_Eh?_

DOWNLOAD STARTING

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE

A.I - IGNIS TRANSFERRED TO PATH 5017 - DUEL DISK MODEL 006 

_Eh?! What's going on?! Where am I?_

[Don't bother even trying to escape.]

_Who are you? What do you want?!_

[I am Playmaker and you are my hostage.]

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, another short chapter but its nice taking a break to write these shorter things compared to the longer chapter of the Replacement AU (insert shameless self-promotion here). I'll probably be writing these on a whim but I would love it if anyone wants help expand on this AU or take it as their own. Leave any suggestions in the comments or have a chat on tumblr here: http://estajays-fanfic-stuff.tumblr.com/ if that's more preferable.

To an A.I., everything was made from binary code. Ones and zeroes made up the entire world. The manifestation of this code, from a simple image to an entire virtual reality, was something for the human perception. It was just another collection of ones and  zeroes to an A.I….and yet…

Playmaker dismissed those wandering thoughts and refocused on the task at hand. 

Kusanagi was currently offline, having to engage in human activities such as sustaining a physical body, generating the income needed in order to purchase the needed sustenance, purchasing the needed nutrients, ectera, ectera. Thus it was left to Playmaker to accomplish the task that the human had instructed: decode the mysterious lifeform that had been captured. This would have been easy, should have been easy…

“Playmaker-senpai! Playmaker-senpai!” a digitalised voice cried. 

Had the duel disk containing the mysterious lifeform been in Kusanagi’s truck, the audio would be loud enough to alert the human customers and possibly ruin their entire operation. Luckily, it was stationed in a discreet apartment where Playmaker’s mainframe was hidden and stored. There was no one there besides a cleaning bot, blissfully ignorant of the new resident. 

“Oh Playmaker-senpai! How far have you-”

The audio was remotely muted, silencing the duel disk and allowing Playmaker to operate in the peace and quiet.

A message appeared, breaking through Playmaker’s neat lines of ones and zeroes.

**From Duel Disk Model 006 - Serial 5017**

[Playmaker-senpai!] 

The offending notification was promptly deleted, letting Playmaker return to analysing the captured A.I’s code. Any messages received from the duel disk was temporarily blocked. It held sentimental value to Kusanagi after all. Any permanent damage could lead to Playmaker’s termination. 

Barely a moment later, the binary pattern was once again disrupted by an incoming message notification. 

**From** **_Ignis_ ** **via Duel Links Messenger**

[Playmaker-senpai! Notice me!]

And the message was once again deleted and blocked while all of the duel disk’s functions and apps were temporarily disabled. The mysterious lifeform should be in complete lockdown now. The duel disk was several models outdated, lacking many of the connectivity options that the latest model had. It was also linked to Playmaker’s Master Code core system, meaning that it could be isolated from all external devices and influences. The mysterious lifeform should now be embargoed. 

Playmaker enjoyed a good hour of peaceful uninterrupted work, reading through the mysterious lifeform’s code and trying to find something, anything, that would make both SOL Technologies and the Knights of Hanoi so desperately chase after it. 

Another ding. Another message. Another annoyance from the lifeform. 

**From** **_Playmaker_ ** **via Link VRAINS**

[Hello senpai!]

_ That. Was. Enough. _

Playmaker forcibly turned off all the function of the duel disk, damaging that ancient thing be damned, flicked back on the audio and turned the visual on to the apartment. All external communication, apart from one path that Kusanagi could access, was completely shut down, locking the apartment out from the outside world. 

The lifeform, clearly unaware of how close it was to getting deleted, turned its eye towards the camera, pupil wide and gleaming. 

“Playmaker-senpai you finally noticed me!” it cooed. 

“Do. You. Know. How close you were to exposing our location?!” Playmaker screeched through his audio. 

Ever since that Speed Duel against the Knights of Hanoi, SOL Technologies had been religiously tracking  _ Playmaker _ ’s log in activity. Even though it was a hacked bot account,  _ Playmaker  _ was still an account on Link VRAINS. Had Playmaker been a moment later, the scouting bots would have honed in on the access point and everything would have been  _ ruined. _

The lifeform didn’t even have the audacity to sound ashamed. “Of course senpai! I was just testing a theory.”

“There are three reasons why you have not yet been deleted.” Playmaker said evenly. “Two are inconsequential and the third can be easily worked around.”

“Well aren’t you rather pissed.” The lifeform said. “It’s almost as if there was a human behind you.”

“I am an advanced Artificial Intelligence program created by Kusanagi Shoichi.” Playmaker recited, what Kusanagi had programmed every since activation. “My filename is [Wisteria], my codename is [Playmaker].”

“Really? Other than the lack of a meat suit, you seem pretty human to me.” the lifeform said coyly. “Annoyance, frustration, anger...all human reactions. Nothing like that idiot over there.”

“[Idiot] is a prohibited word.” Both the cleaning bot and Playmaker’s programming chimed. 

The profanity filter was another annoyance but it was necessary for Playmaker to remain undercover. To any scanning program, [Playmaker Wisteria] was nothing more than a modified dueling A.I.

“I have been programed this way in order to maximise my utility to my creator.” Playmaker said. 

“Didn’t look that way when I installed your [Duel Skill]...”

“You tampered with my software?!”

Nothing more could be exchanged as an alert flashed. It was Playmaker’s constant tracker on the Knights of Hanoi and apparently, one had made an appearance in the VRAINS. 

“We’ll continue this later.” Playmaker said as he reestablished the connection to the wider world. 

The duel disk activated as Playmaker logged in, sadly bringing the mysterious lifeform along.

The ones and zeroes parted and shifted into a flashing stream of words:

INTO THE VRAINS 


	3. Chapter 3

There was something different about the VRAINS. It should have been another collection of ones and zeroes, a series of binary code for Playmaker’s programming to decipher, but it wasn’t. Every time Playmaker entered the world, something...happened. There was a feeling that was beyond what any programming could describe. 

Moving limbs. 

Breathing in and out.

Talking with an actual mouth. 

It was...was...nostalgic? Familiar?

No, that would imply that Playmaker had been able to perform such basic human functions in the past. Playmaker was an A.I., an Artificial Intelligence program. That was impossible. Besides, what Playmaker controlled in the VRAINS was merely an avatar, a pale imitation of a human body. And yet…

And yet…

There was  _ something. _

Like now, duelling against GO Onizuka.

Playmaker should have been able to detect that the ‘Knight of Hanoi’ was merely a fake. It would have been so easy to do a quick check and discover that it had merely been an avatar recolour, that the coding of the account was distinctly  _ not  _ Hanoi. But Playmaker, in the heat of the moment, had failed to perform all the necessary protocols and had jumped into the VRAINS, into a  _ trap _ , without a second thought. 

But now, duelling against the Charisma Duelist, Playmaker was not regretting it. 

Onizuka’s pattern was so predictable, a quick calculation and Playmaker could have easily created a program to perfectly counter the human’s every move. But that did not happen. Instead, Playmaker was duelling him live, wasting precious processing power to personally deal with this non-threat.

And Playmaker, against all logic of artificial intelligence, was enjoying it.

When Kusanagi create a backdoor to escape the duel (something that Playmaker could have easily accomplish in a matter of  _ seconds  _ after the trap had been activated), Playmaker swerved around it, using every simulated muscle in the avatar to physically move out of the portal’s path. 

GO Onizuka was an interesting and challenging opponent. Playmaker was having too much  _ fun.  _ On a duelist’s honour, Playmaker refused to flee the match. 

Afterwards, though, when the duel was over with a victory was reason behind all these actions, all these  _ feelings,  _ made clear. 

Playmaker was defective. 

* * *

Shochi’s eyes darted back and forth, from one menu to another, in frantic search for where the files, the coding, the  _ everything  _ for [Playmaker Wisteria] disappeared to.

He didn’t think, back when he had first uploaded the ‘files’, that what was left of Yuusaku would mistake himself for an A.I. That would have been hillarious if the situation hadn’t had been so worrying. Shochi would have explained everything, if he knew how. Because how exactly does one explain to an A.I. that it’s not an actual A.I. but parts of a human consciousness that just happened to exist in cyberspace.

“Ai!” Shochi yelled, startling the mysterious lifeform out of standby mode. “Where’s Playmaker?”

“I dunno.” Ai said. 

Shochi turned to the ‘hostage’, grabbing the duel disk, Yuusaku’s old duel disk from  _ before, _ and holding it high off the ground. “You better not be fucking with me or else…”

“Seriously! I know nothing!” Ai cried, its eye spinning wildly. “After we left the VRAINS, Playmaker-senpai said something about being defective and I haven’t seen hide nor hare since. Do you know how many messages I’ve spammed already?!”

Defective?

Wait! No!

Shochi unceremoniously dropped the duel disk back on the table and turned back to the monitors, clicking into the recycling bin. There, as a small inconspicuous icon, was Playmaker.

Shochi immediately dragged him out to the desktop, only for the files to return to the recycling bin a moment later.    

This continued for at least another hour or so with Shochi dragging Playmaker out only for him to transfer himself back. Even as a sentient computer program, Yuusaku was stubborn.

Shochi finally opened up a chat log, hoping to get to the root of the problem.

[Yuusaku.] He typed, but the programming would automatically translate it to Playmaker. 

[Kusanagi Shochi.] came the curt reply. Shochi could almost imagine Yuusaku, ten-years-old and pouting, anticipating his scolding. Had he still a body, Yuusaku would be sixteen now.

[What are you doing?] he was seething with frustration but Shochi couldn’t risk letting it leak out to Playmaker. 

[Deleting myself.]

[Why?] Shochi had to keep his patience. He had to tease the information out of Playmaker gently.

[There are three reasons. One, during the duel against GO Onizuka, I disobeyed a direct command to end the duel. Two, I have checked several times and there has been no updates to patch the bugs in my programming. Three, I have found a highly encrypted project labeled [Wisteria Game-Play] that is most likely my replacement. Therefore, you have found my software insufficient and outdated thus I am a waste of space on your server. I am sincerely sorry.] 

Shochi stared at the text with wide eyed disbelief. Why couldn’t there be a shrink for the mental health of a digitalised mind?

[Playmaker you are not being replaced.] Shochi typed slowly. He had to word this carefully. [That project is…] ... _ my research on how to get you back your body _ ... [an update for better interaction with the physical world!]

[But the duel…]

[Playmaker, you were programed to be able to operate independently, and if necessary contrary, to my directions. Who knows, GO Onizuka might be a useful ally in the future.]

[No. Someone who duels for entertainment would not be able to face the Knights of Hanoi.] If Yuusaku still had a body, Shochi was sure he would be smiling now. 

Playmaker left the chat and several monitors were overtaken with streams of binary code, streaming faster than an human eye could read. At least everything was back to normal now. 

Then there was a sudden fizzle. 

“AI! HOW MANY DAMN MESSAGES DID YOU SEND!” Playmaker roared through the speakers. It wasn’t Yuusaku’s voice but rather the generic digitalised programming.

“‘Damn’ is a prohibited word.” Soon chimed after and Shochi couldn’t help but laugh. 


	4. Chapter 4

[Blue Angel]

A Charisma Duellist and figurehead idol within Link-VRAINS. Blue pigtails arched in the shape of a heart, white wings hovering over her shoulders - an appearance fitting, and only possible, of a virtual avatar.

Zaizen Aoi.

A first-year student at Den Academy. Short brown hair and equally brown eyes - pretty by human standards but nothing particularly stunning other than the fact she was the step-sister of Zaizen Akira, security manager of SOL Technology. 

To think these two were the same person. 

“I’m surprised that you found this information so quickly.” Kusanagi said, scrolling through the files that Playmaker had complied. “Given the security surround the system, this is more than I ever expected. Good job.”

[This is what I was programmed for.] Playmaker typed off-handily. Yes, there was a perfectly functioning audio system that could be utilized but Playmaker had always found it unnecessary - except when scolding Ai. Playmaker was against naming the mysterious lifeform but Kusanagi insisted despite the possibility that the attachment could compromise their position in the future. Humans worked in mysterious ways.

“From a quick calculation of her parts, the overall sum marks Zaizen Aoi as beautiful.” Ai remarked, having found a way around Playmaker’s audio lock - again. “What do you think senpai?”

[My opinion on the subject’s appearance is irrelevant.] Playmaker entered. There was no need to open a separate dialogue box Ai, the mysterious lifeform had already hacked into the current one. 

“Oh come on! Now you’re trying too hard with that ‘proper artificial intellige-’” And Playmaker remuted Ai. The mysterious lifeform was good but Playmaker would adapt and be better. 

Ai flailed within the new restrictions that Playmaker had coded, blocked from accessing any functions outside of the duel disk. Playmaker was confident that Ai would be contained this time but then again, the same was said for the previous code. 

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” Kusanagi asked. 

[Ai is our hostage.] was Playmaker’s plain reply.

Kusanagi sighed. “You can at least be a little nicer.”

[Noted.]

(Yuusaku was still the same stubborn brat. At least that hadn’t changed.)

“So then, since hacking directly into SOL Technology would be completely suicidal, and that’s not your fault Playmaker,” Kusanagi was quick to add, lest they have another recycling bin incident. “Zaizen Aoi might be our safest bet to get the information regarding the incident several years ago. Question is, how?”

The file on Blue Angel was recalled while Zaizen Aoi’s was minimized to make way for five new windows: Hosoda Ichibei, Sato Heizo, Shima Naoki, Suzuki Kei and Tanaka Manobu.

[Zaizen Aoi is a member of Den Academy’s duel club. Recently she had donated the latest duel disk model to said club.]

“The new model that doesn’t require physical cards and with the state-of-the-art commercial duelling A.I.” Then Kusanagi’s eyes widened. “Since they’re the latest model-”

[There are no current updates or back-up files downloadable, leaving the space allocated for them as an easy access point. By planting a bot under the guise of the non-existent back-up file, information regarding Zaizen Aoi then in turn Zaizen Akira and SOL Technology could be streamed unhindered until the first update is released which won’t be for another three months at least.]

Kusanagi grinned, leaning over the keyboard. “Then let’s get started.”

However, several  _ Bitron  _ icons appeared over the files. [They had been planted yesterday.] 

(If Yuusaku still had a body, he would be smirking. Even consumed by binary code, his old mannerisms still shone through.)

“Senpai pretty good at stalking.” Ai quipped, having once again found a way through Playmaker’s block. “Senpai must  _ really  _ be interested in Zaizen Aoi to want to get information on her so quickly.”

[Shut up, Ai.]

“Don’t deny it, Playmaker-senpai~”

“But what if the main A.I. was corrupted or deleted?” Kusanagi quickly interjected before Playmaker resorted to something that they would both later regret. “The system would default onto the back-up program and the bot would be discovered.”

[With the latest model? Considering all the preexisting fail-safes and other security features, it would take a special kind of idiot to do that.] 

The message, however, turned red soon after. [‘Idiot’ is a prohibited word.]

{~~~}

Shima Naoki was a special kind of idiot.

Playmaker couldn’t compute  _ how  _ one teenager, with no experience in coding and programming, managed to bypass security measures that  _ Playmaker  _ had trouble with in order to delete his A.I. - completely by accident. 

The bot planted in Shima Naoki’s duel disk had sent an alert message the moment the duel disk’s system tried to incorporate it as the main A.I., a frantic Bitron racing down Playmaker’s Master Code demanding immediate assistance.

Playmaker followed the bot back into the duel disk, once the damage had been inspected a new dueling A.I. would be created. Playmaker expected to find Shima Naoki fiddling with his duel disk, poking at random buttons and such. Instead, Shima Naoki was locked in a middle of a duel. 

And was losing. 

Badly.

The duel wasn’t in Link VRAINS but rather the smaller server of Duel Links, filled with beginners and unskilled duelists. Shima Naoki definitely fell into the latter category. 

“You are losing.” Playmaker said, taking the place of the duel disk’s A.I. A new one would be coded later, right now the focus was to stop the one-sided beatdown that was a poor excuse for a duel. “It is best that you surrender.”

“What?! No way you stupid A.I.!” Shima Naoki exclaimed. “A true duelist never surrenders!”

“‘Stupid’ is a prohibited word.” chimed from the profanity filter. 

“Just shut up and help me win this duel!”

Playmaker quickly analysed the field. A win would be difficult and extremely tedious, but possible. “Don’t attack this turn.”

“Then how am I supposed to deal him damage?!”Shima Naoki protested. 

“Do you want to win or not? Set that trap card and end your turn.”

Shima Naoki grumbled but complied.    

The whining and complaining continued throughout the duel but despite that, Playmaker was able to squeeze a win out of the hopeless situation. 

“That was one tough opponent.” Shima Naoki said as he exited the Duel Links.

“Your opponent was a nine-year-old with a starter deck.” Playmaker retorted. 

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion!”

“From this duel, I have taken three things. One, you only have the bare minimum understanding of Duel Monsters. Two, you are overly dependent on A.I. guidings. Three, you duel in the Duel Links which is targeted at duelists twelve and under. Therefore, you are an incompetent duelist.”

“Oi! Watch what you’re saying or I’ll delete you!” Shima Naoki said, saliva splattering over the screen. 

_ ‘You’ve already done that. That’s why  _ I’m  _ here instead.’  _ But Playmaker said, “I have also gathered three positive features. One, you chose to persist even in a hopeless situation. Two, you are willing to acknowledge your faults and take instruction from others. Three, you have a genuine passion for the game despite your clear lack in skill. Therefore, you have the makings of a competent duelist.”

“Argh! What are you even trying to say?!” Shima Naoki unclasped his duel disk and threw it onto a desk. “I give up. I’m going to bed.”

And finally, Playmaker was rid of that annoyance of a human. Playmaker reprogrammed the bot to send an alert next time the duel disk was activated then returned to the mainframe hidden in the apartment. 

Playmaker immediately started work on Shima Naoki’s replacement A.I., dueling with him live took up too much of Playmaker’s processing power that was better used to find Hanoi or crack SOL Technology’s system. 

But, as much as Playmaker hated to admit, interacting with Shima Naoki had been...fun.

{~~~}

Shochi leaned back into his chair, Shima and Yuusaku’s duel playing over the screen. It had taken him a while to delete the original A.I., and he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about that, but at least now Yuusaku would get the outside human interaction he definitely needed. 

Saving the video away, Shochi opened [Wisteria Game-Play]. He was nowhere near close to finding a way to restore Yuusaku to normal but maybe he’ll find a breakthrough soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now Naoki's in the AU! Didn't really know how else to create an alternative to 'Yuusaku tries to befriend Aoi' plot but hopefully this doesn't come off as too creepy in this AU. There might be some side interactions but don't expect anything too plotty for the future chapters until after the Playmaker vs. Revolver duel is over. I kind of have half a mind of skipping around that duel entirely in this AU but nothing can be certain yet.


	5. Chapter 5

Specter bowed as his avatar materialised in Hanoi’s cybernetic headquarters.

“You summoned me, Revolver-sama?”

Their leader, the  _ second  _ leader, did not turn around. It was the same avatar, even the same account, as the previous leader but every member of the Knights of Hanoi, both old and new, knew that this was not the original Revolver.

“You were planning on planting a virus in [Blue Angel].” Revolver said. A statement that left no room for question. “That action would be detrimental for three reasons: one, [Blue Angel] is an iconic duellist and idol within [Link VRAINS] and her disappearance would cause great uproar; two, the virus would disable her persona Zaizen Aoi which alert SOL Technologies…”

Specter kept his head low and hidden but his face crumpled with frustration. Who was this  _ replacement  _ to call him out on basic things that he had already accounted for? He had a plan, one that would put SOL Technologies  _ and  _ that annoyance [Playmaker] at their mercy.

...and three, that particular virus would fail to be effective in any way whatsoever.”

Specter shot up suddenly, holding himself back from making an unbecoming exclamation. “Revolver-sama.” He said slowly, careful to choose his words. “This is the program, tried and tested to infect the human mind like any piece of software-”

“That is where the fault lies.” Revolver interjected. “My observations have concluded that [Blue Angel] is like [GO Onizuka] and [Playmaker] and...myself. That virus would be ineffective.”

Specter’s brow furrowed. There it was again. That reference. Something that connected the replacement to the charisma duellists and that hacker. Something that Dr Kogami had hidden from the rest of Hanoi since the new Revolver was introduced.

“This would be more effective.”

Revolver waved his hand  and a transparent orb appeared between the two of them in a stream of binary code. When in came in contact with Specter’s hand, it condensed into a form of a card. 

Specter’s eyes narrowed as he tried to decipher the code but the numbers whirled in an intricate pattern that was too complex for him to read immediately, possibly even too much for any human to decode. It was obvious though what it was. 

“This will perform the desired task.” Revolver said. “It will disable [Blue Angel] and capture [Playmaker] without alerting SOL Technologies, until it is too late of course.”

{~~~}

**Duel Challenge from [playmaker] on LINK VRAINS**

Accept

>Delete

_ Message deleted. _

**Duel Challenge from [play-maker] on LINK VRAINS**

Accept

>Delete

_ Message deleted. _

**Duel Challenge from [PlayMaker] on LINK VRAINS**

Accept

>Delete

_ Message deleted. _

**Duel Challenge from [play_maker] on LINK VRAINS**

Accept

>Delete

_ Message deleted. _

**Duel Challenge from [PLAYMAKER] on LINK VRAINS**

Accept

>Delete

_ Message deleted. _

**ALL MESSAGES SELECTED**

>Delete

_ Messages deleted. _

Hollyhock blankly stared at the glaring screen latched on the forearm of the body, Zaizen Aoi. Throughout the entirety of class, messages had been received alerting Hollyhock of numerous duel request for [Blue Angel] from [Playmaker]. Even the most diligent student would be distracted by the constant buzzing from the duel disk but Aoi Zaizen was far beyond that. Hollyhock was programmed far better to fall victim to a simple distraction. Not that it mattered. None of them were from the actual [Playmaker]. They were all fakes. Pretenders. Copycats. That signature was too unique, too impressionable, to be replicated to any extent.

(Even now as Zaizen Aoi the feeling, no  _ sensation,  _ of Playmaker’s touch on Blue Angel still lingered)

[Blue Angel], had challenged [Playmaker] multiple times on Link VRAINS. First was a blanket proposal by [Blue Angel] challenging the very best of Link VRAINS to the newly rediscovered [Speed Duel]. There was no response and [Blue Angel] had to wade through a ridiculous amount of mediocre duellists. Second was through private messaging, which was more time consuming than expected but was a given with [Playmaker’s] status as a hacker. There had been no reply though and any attempts by Hollyhock to track down the source had immediately been blocked. Third, and the most recent, was the public challenge broadcasted throughout Link VRAINS. Bold, assertive and overall a fruitless effort resulting in numerous spam request. 

All that was left was to hack directly into Link VRAINS through SOL Technologies and trace down [Playmaker] by login records.

But that would alert Onii-sama. 

Onii-sama had already expressed explicit disdain for [Blue Angel’s] existence.

Had Hollyhock followed orders, [Blue Angel] would never have been created and Aoi Zaizen would never have set foot in the digital world. 

But Hollyhock did not. 

Hollyhock had disobeyed the wishes, if not the programming, of Onii-sama.

Onii-sama, Hollyhock’s creator.

Hollyhock held no illusions about Onii-sama’s designed purpose. Onii-sama, Zaizen Akira of SOL Technologies, created the A.I. filename [Previous_Wealth], codename [Hollyhock] with the distinct purpose of becoming Zaizen Aoi. To inhabit the android created in Zaizen Aoi’s likeness and live as Zaizen Aoi would have. Every decision, every action, had to be carefully calculated to emulate the choices of Zaizen Aoi to perfect accuracy based on the memories available. 

Hollyhock was the replacement for Zaizen Aoi. 

Hollyhock  _ hated  _ Zaizen Aoi. 

That was why Hollyhock created [Blue Angel]. There was a forty-nine percent chance that Zaizen Aoi would take interest in Duel Monsters, a thirty percent that Zaizen Aoi would become an active user of Link VRAINS and a slim nine percent chance that Zaizen Aoi would take the route of a charisma duelist for personal gratification but Hollyhock didn’t care about the statistics. 

[Blue Angel] had no orders. [Blue Angel] had no memories. [Blue Angel] had no restrictions.

[Blue Angel] was Hollyhock’s freedom.

And [Blue Angel] would continue to exist until Onii-sama gave the direct orders for Hollyhock to delete the account.

(And even then, [Blue Angel] would be dormant, not dead.)

Zaizen Aoi had lingered after class to delete all the unneeded messages. To do so earlier would risk being caught by the teacher, to do so during duel club would be rude to the fellow club members and to do so upon returning to the Zaizen residence would lead to too much building up. It was the most logical choice for Zaizen Aoi so the messages had to be deleted then.

Then Hollyhock felt that  _ sensation,  _ that tingle of familiarity across the invisible threads of binary code that was sewn through the physical plane. A linking sense.

[Playmaker] was  _ here. _

As discretely as possible, Hollyhock scanned the room. This was not something that Zaizen Aoi would do but [Playmaker] was here and [Blue Angel] desperately wanted to challenge that duellist. Because Hollyhock  _ knew,  _ not with any certainty but there was a distinct chance that…

The classroom was nearly empty. All the other students had long left, even the few the strangled behind after class. There was only Zaizen Aoi, the teacher and, in the back corner, Shima Naoki messing around on his duel disk. No one else.

“Dammit!”

“[Dammit] is a prohibited word.”

“Oh shut up you stupid A.I.”

“[Stupid] is a prohibited word.”

“Grrr...I give up! I’m turning you off now.”

Then the sensation was gone. The number of people in the room hadn’t changed but Hollyhock could no longer sense [Playmaker]. The teacher was still immersed in his grading and Shima Naoki was grumbling as he shoved his duel disk into his bag. 

Was...was Shima Naoki [Playmaker]?

No, Zaizen Aoi was in constant proximity with Shima Naoki, both in class and duel club, but it was only now that Hollyhock was sensing [Playmaker]. 

Then, the duel disk?

Highly improbable... but not impossible.

Zaizen Aoi approached Shima Naoki, intercepting him at the door.

“Shima Naoki.”

The boy took a step back, startled. “Zaizen?” he said. “I thought you had already left. What’s up?”

“I…” Zaizen Aoi would not had confronted the classmate thus Zaizen Aoi would not have needed to create a response for taking the duel disk. Zaizen Aoi had no reason to but Hollyhock did. 

“I believe there have been some technical difficulties with your duel disk?” Hollyhock said. 

“Not really.” Shima Naoki replied. “It’s been working great! As expected from the latest model. But…”

“But?” Hollyhock prodded. This was the needed information.

“Well the A.I.’s kind of weird. It’s got a really snarking personality, if A.I.’s could even have those, and it’s always listing stuff in threes and...”

Hollyhock stiffly extended an arm. “Then the duel disk is malfunctioning. Please give it to me and I shall have it repaired.”

Shima Naoki gave a weary look. “Sure, if you say so.” He said, placing the duel disk in the extended arm.

The hand clasped greedily around the device and clutched it close to the chest. “Thank you. It will be promptly repaired and returned.”

Hollyhock took off in a near sprint out the door. Now was time to return home and decode the duel disk and find [Playmaker]-

“Oi, Zaizen!”

And Zaizen Aoi halted and turned sharply to face the boy. 

“Y’know Zaizen, you don’t have to be so formal all the time.” Shima Naoki called. “We’re friends after all.”

Zaizen Aoi did not know how to react. Hollyhock did not know how to react. [Blue Angel] would not have known how to react.

“I shall not be present at duel club.” Was all that was said in parting as Hollyhock raced back to the Zaizen residence. 

Would Zaizen Aoi left so abruptly? 

No.

Would Zaizen Aoi have acted so rashly?

No.

Did Hollyhock care?

When Zaizen Aoi reached the Zaizen residence and retreated directly into the personal allocated bedroom and turned on the duel disk, the sensation returned.

“Hello?” came the somewhat cautious voice of the A.I. It was the generic voice used for most devices but it was obvious who  _ exactly  _ was saying it. 

“Hello Playmaker.” Hollyhock said. “I challenge you to a duel.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, kind of contemplating whether or not I was going to make the rest of the 'found kids' A.I.'s and it hasn't been confirmed that Aoi, Go and Revolver were part of them but...what's done is done! This is really divergent now but that would lead to some more interesting situations and a bit more Aoi screen time. Yes, there's a change in motivation but do you really think that an A.I. created to fulfill Akira's wish to have his sister back would be constantly pining for his attention if it was self-aware? I kind of like to think of it as the difference between Manga!Shun and Anime!Shun when the dimensional war and little sister are taken out of the equation.


End file.
